Members of the Rader family meet Jeff Bulmer, upper right. Russ Rader is at left; his son, Rusty Rader is center, and Charlie Rader's sister, Wanda, is seated.Gwendy Garner photo

By Gwendy GarnerContributing writer

updated: 8/21/2019 10:24 AM

Seventy-year-old Jeff Bulmer, who lives in Boynton Beach, Florida but is formerly of Edwardsville, made an "overdue" trip to Chester last week to visit some people he had never met before.

A U.S. Marine who served in Vietnam, Bulmer was a close buddy of the late Lance Cpl. Charles Rader of Chester, who died just south of Danang on March 3, 1966.

An infantryman, Bulmer was present when Rader died.

"I was about 75 feet away from him when it happened. I never forgot about him," he said.

"Charlie and I were both from southern Illinois. I always wanted to come to Chester to meet the Rader family."

Fast forward over 50 years. Bulmer has lived all around the country, now in Florida. In spring 2018 he contacted Linda Rader, whose husband, Russ is Charlie's surviving brother. They talked about satisfying Bulmer's bucket list wish to meet the Rader family, but Bulmer didn't make the trip.

A few weeks ago, as readers may recall, Linda Rader was in the news for facilitating a U.S. Army reunion of friends of her own late brother, Leonard Nitzsche, who also died in Vietnam.

In the process of planning that event, the story was picked up by CBS journalist Steve Hartman and was subsequently aired on his well-known show, "On The Road With Steve Hartman".

Bulmer spotted a news item about the story, and that was the catalyst he needed. He again contacted Linda Rader, who is getting pretty adept at these kinds of reunions, and plans were made for the trip.

On Wednesday, Aug. 14 Bulmer met in Chester with several Rader family members who reside in the area. They visited the grave of Lance Cpl. Rader at Evergreen Cemetery in Chester and enjoyed a relaxing lunch at the Rader home where stories were shared, accompanied with laughter and tears.

While in Chester, Bulmer also visited the Veterans Memorial Park near Perryville, Missouri and the Vietnam Memorial Wall there.

The Rader family in Chester is rich in military service with all four sons having served in the U.S. Marine Corps. They include Wilbur, now deceased; Charles, who died in Vietnam; George, who lives in Mississippi; and Russ, who resides in Chester.